The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to biosensors used to detect molecular markers of pathogen infection associated with various medical conditions.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of medicine, doctors may suspect that certain patient conditions are associated with pathogen infection. Identification of a specific pathogen at the source of an infection is challenging for healthcare providers because of the diversity of possible pathogens as well as the nonspecific nature of the symptoms of many infections. However, identification of particular pathogens in infected patients may provide certain treatment advantages. For example, doctors and other healthcare personnel may more easily administer targeted treatments and pharmaceuticals if they know which pathogen is at the source of the infection. Additionally, identification of infecting pathogens in a hospital setting may allow healthcare personnel to track nosocomial infections. It may also be desirable to monitor acute or long-term care patients to prevent new infections in patients with compromised immune systems.
Because of the advantages associated with the specific identification of pathogens, many methods for pathogen detection are currently in use. However, these detection methods are associated with several disadvantages, including extended wait times for results. For example, healthcare providers may attempt to culture particular pathogens from patient samples. Culturing may involve streaking the patient sample across an appropriate solid growth medium, and isolating various organisms within the sample. The culturing process may take days or even weeks depending on the pathogen's growth process. Often, a doctor makes a diagnosis and begins treatment only to later modify this diagnosis and the resulting treatment upon return of the culturing laboratory results. Accordingly, the delay associated with this technique may result in loss of treatment time and waste of hospital resources. Further, not all pathogens may be successfully cultured.
Other methods for identifying specific pathogens include histopathology methods and antibody-based tests. Using histopathology, clinicians may microscopically examine biological samples in order to detect the presence of pathogens. However, this technique involves skilled workers to prepare the samples and to interpret the results. It is also possible to detect a pathogen with an antibody-based test. An antibody-mediated detection mechanism involves detecting a particular protein that is unique to an individual pathogen. Antibody-based tests often involve only a single antibody and are thus limited to detecting only a single type of pathogen. Further, antibody-based tests may also lack sufficient specificity if the targeted antigen has a high degree of homology across species. In such a case, an antibody-based test may provide a false positive result for a particular pathogen
Generally, pathogen identification testing is conducted ex vivo, meaning that a biological sample is taken from the body and tested outside of the patient. In vivo testing for pathogen infection provides certain advantages, including more rapid detection of infections as well as increased convenience for the healthcare provider. Although some pathogen identification methods may be used in vivo (i.e. the testing is done in or on the patient's body), such methods are complex and somewhat limited in scope. For example, certain B lymphocytes may be engineered to emit light upon exposure to specific bacteria and viruses. The B lymphocytes may be injected into the bloodstream, and the emitted light may be detected spectroscopically. However, the use of these engineered B lymphocytes is limited to identification of blood-borne pathogens. Further, such a technique is invasive, involving skilled healthcare personnel to prepare the engineered cells and to monitor the injection. A need exists in the art for an effective, specific, and rapid method of identifying pathogens that may be conducted both ex vivo and in vivo.